The stomping ground of the critically endangered black rhino, the ubiquitous Cape buffalo, prowling lions, wandering elephant herds, elusive leopards, and a whole host of other exotic, kaleidoscopic, weird and wonderful African animal life besides, the Tsavo East National Park is, in many ways, the Kenyan Rift Valley writ small.

It can be found sprawled out over more than 13,000 square kilometres in the southern reaches of the country; a great mass of rolling savannah and dusty plains watered by the Galana River and nestled between the two major cities of Mombasa and Nairobi. Here, safari-goers find one of the most teeming wildlife environments on the continent, with plenty of room to tick off that coveted ‘Big 5’, and a gamut of eye-popping natural attractions too—from the fertile lands of the Yatta Plateau, to the gushing Lugard Falls of the Galana.

Before arriving, be sure to ask your Tsavo East National Park tour guide about the various accommodation options on offer, which now range from tented camps in the midst of the wilds to luxury lodges with all the mod cons.